Browsing by Author "Engel, Mark E."

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    Epidemiology, health systems and stakeholders in rheumatic heart disease in Africa : a systematic review protocol
    (BMJ Publishing Group, 2016) Moloi, Annesinah Hlengiwe; Watkins, David; Engel, Mark E.; Mall, Sumaya; Zuhlke, Liesl
    ntroduction: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a chronic disease affecting the heart valves, secondary to group A streptococcal infection (GAS) and subsequent acute rheumatic fever (ARF). However, RHD cure and preventative measures are inextricably linked with socioeconomic development, as the disease mainly affects children and young adults living in poverty. In order to address RHD, public health officials and health policymakers require up-to-date knowledge on the epidemiology of GAS, ARF and RHD, as well as the existing enablers and gaps in delivery of evidence- based care for these conditions. We propose to conduct a systematic review to assess the literature comprehensively, synthesising all existing quantitative and qualitative data relating to RHD in Africa. Methods and analysis: We plan to conduct a comprehensiveliteraturesearchusinganumberof databases and reference lists of relevant articles published from January 1995 to December 2015. Two evaluators will independently review and extract data from each article. Additionally, we will assess overall study quality and risk of bias, using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme criteria for quantitative and qualitative studies, respectively. We will meta-analyse estimates of prevalence, incidence, case fatality and mortality for each of the conditions separately for each country. Qualitative meta-analysis will be conducted for facilitators and barriers in RHD health access. Lastly, we will create a list of key stakeholders. This protocol is registered in the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of systematic reviews, registration number CRD42016032852
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    Patient adherence to tuberculosis treatment : a systematic review of qualitative research
    (Public Library of Science, 2007-07-24) Munro, Salla A.; Lewin, Simon A.; Smith, Helen J.; Engel, Mark E.; Fretheim, Atle; Volmink, Jimmy
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a major contributor to the global burden of disease and has received considerable attention in recent years, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where it is closely associated with HIV/AIDS. Poor adherence to treatment is common despite various interventions aimed at improving treatment completion. Lack of a comprehensive and holistic understanding of barriers to and facilitators of, treatment adherence is currently a major obstacle to finding effective solutions. The aim of this systematic review of qualitative studies was to understand the factors considered important by patients, caregivers and health care providers in contributing to TB medication adherence. Methods and Findings We searched 19 electronic databases (1966–February 2005) for qualitative studies on patients’, caregivers’, or health care providers’ perceptions of adherence to preventive or curative TB treatment with the free text terms ‘‘Tuberculosis AND (adherence OR compliance OR concordance)’’. We supplemented our search with citation searches and by consulting experts. For included studies, study quality was assessed using a predetermined checklist and data were extracted independently onto a standard form. We then followed Noblit and Hare’s method of meta-ethnography to synthesize the findings, using both reciprocal translation and line-of-argument synthesis. We screened 7,814 citations and selected 44 articles that met the prespecified inclusion criteria. The synthesis offers an overview of qualitative evidence derived from these multiple international studies. We identified eight major themes across the studies: organisation of treatment and care; interpretations of illness and wellness; the financial burden of treatment; knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about treatment; law and immigration; personal characteristics and adherence behaviour; side effects; and family, community, and household support. Our interpretation of the themes across all studies produced a line-of-argument synthesis describing how four major factors interact to affect adherence to TB treatment: structural factors, including poverty and gender discrimination; the social context; health service factors; and personal factors. The findings of this study are limited by the quality and foci of the included studies. Conclusions Adherence to the long course of TB treatment is a complex, dynamic phenomenon with a wide range of factors impacting on treatment-taking behaviour. Patients’ adherence to their medication regimens was influenced by the interaction of a number of these factors. The findings of our review could help inform the development of patient-centred interventions and of interventions to address structural barriers to treatment adherence.
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    The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus among older people in Africa : a systematic review study protocol
    (BMJ Publishing Group, 2014-05) Werfalli, Mahmoud; Musekiwa, Alfred; Engel, Mark E.; Ross, Ian; Kengne, Andre P.; Levitt, Naomi S.
    Introduction: The number of people with diabetes in Africa is projected to increase substantially in the next two decades, due to factors including rapid urbanisation, adoption of unhealthy diets and exercise patterns and the ageing of the population. There are currently uncertainties regarding the incidence, prevalence and management patterns of diabetes in older people across the diversity of African countries. We wish to perform a systematic review to determine the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Africa in the older individual, over the age of 55 years, reported in studies from 2000 to 2013. Methods: and analyses A comprehensive literature search among a number of databases will be undertaken, using an African search filter to identify diabetes prevalence studies that were published from 2000 to 2013. Full copies of articles identified by the search, and considered to meet the inclusion criteria, will be obtained for data extraction and synthesis. Statistical analysis of the primary measures, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and oral glucose tolerance test will include two steps: (1) identification of data sources and documenting estimates and (2) application of the random-effects meta-analysis model to aggregate prevalence estimates and account for between study variability in calculating the overall pooled estimates and 95% CI for diabetes prevalence. Heterogeneity will be evaluated using the I2 statistic to determine the extent of variation in effect estimates that is due to heterogeneity rather than chance. This systematic review will be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Ethics and dissemination: Ethics is not required for this study, given that this is a protocol for a systematic review, which utilises published data. The findings of this study will be widely disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.
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    Rationale and design of the African group A streptococcal infection registry : the AFROStrep study
    (BMJ Publishing Group, 2016) Barth, Dylan D.; Engel, Mark E.; Whitelaw, Andrew; Alemseged, Abdissa; Sadoh, Wilson E.; Ali, Sulafa K. M.; Sow, Samba O.; Dale, James; Mayosi, Bongani M
    Introduction: Group A β-haemolytic Streptococcus (GAS), a Gram-positive bacterium, also known as Streptococcus pyogenes, causes pyoderma, pharyngitis and invasive disease. Repeated GAS infections may lead to autoimmune diseases such as acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Invasive GAS (iGAS) disease is an important cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. The burden of GAS infections is, however, unknown in Africa because of lack of surveillance systems. Methods and analysis: The African group A streptococcal infection registry (the AFROStrep study) is a collaborative multicentre study of clinical, microbiological, epidemiological and molecular characteristics for GAS infection in Africa. The AFROStrep registry comprises two components: (1) active surveillance of GAS pharyngitis cases from sentinel primary care centres (non-iGAS) and (2) passive surveillance of iGAS disease from microbiology laboratories. Isolates will also be subjected to DNA isolation to allow for characterisation by molecular methods and cryopreservation for long-term storage. The AFROStrep study seeks to collect comprehensive data on GAS isolates in Africa. The biorepository will serve as a platform for vaccine development in Africa. Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval for the AFROStrep registry has been obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee at the University of Cape Town (HREC/REF: R006/2015). Each recruiting site will seek ethics approval from their local ethics’ committee. All participants will be required to provide consent for inclusion into the registry as well as for the storage of isolates and molecular investigations to be conducted thereon. Strict confidentiality will be applied throughout. Findings and updates will be disseminated to collaborators, researchers, health planners and colleagues through peer-reviewed journal articles, conference publications and proceedings.
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    Standard echocardiography versus handheld echocardiography for the detection of subclinical rheumatic heart disease : protocol for a systematic review
    (BMJ Publishing Group, 2018-02) Telford, Lisa H.; Abdullahi, Leila H.; Ochodo, Eleanor A.; Zuhlke, Liesl; Engel, Mark E.
    Introduction Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a preventable and treatable chronic condition which persists in many developing countries largely affecting impoverished populations. Handheld echocardiography presents an opportunity to address the need for more cost-effective methods of diagnosing RHD in developing countries, where the disease continues to carry high rates of morbidity and mortality. Preliminary studies have demonstrated moderate sensitivity as well as high specificity and diagnostic odds for detecting RHD in asymptomatic patients. We describe a protocol for a systematic review on the diagnostic performance of handheld echocardiography compared to standard echocardiography using the 2012 World Heart Federation criteria for diagnosing subclinical RHD. Methods and analysis Electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCOhost as well as reference lists and citations of relevant articles will be searched from 2012 to date using a predefined strategy incorporating a combination of Medical Subject Heading terms and keywords. The methodological validity and quality of studies deemed eligible for inclusion will be assessed against review specific Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 criteria and information on metrics of diagnostic accuracy and demographics extracted. Forest plots of sensitivity and specificity as well as scatter plots in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) space will be used to investigate heterogeneity. If possible, a meta-analysis will be conducted to produce summary results of sensitivity and specificity using the Hierarchical Summary ROC method. In addition, a sensitivity analysis will be conducted to investigate the effect of studies with a high risk of bias.